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In this lyric "隣で歌う声怖がりな背中を押して" I'm confused how the がりな背中を押して works. I know
how 背中を押して is used thanks to [this
post](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/questions/36342/%E8%83%8C%E4%B8%AD%E3%82%92%E6%8A%BC%E3%81%99-phrase-
meaning). But what does 怖がりな note. Is the person or the action 怖がりな?


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question
grammar adjectives song-lyrics
Adding an adjective before a verb?


怖がりな is the form 怖がりだ takes before the noun it's modifying.

The question then is what is _it_?

_It_ is a relative clause, " _who is a timid person_ ".

怖がり could be either a coward or a timid individual. I decided, not knowing
more context, to take a more optimistic approach (that the person is timid,
not cowardly).

So, the lyric is referring to encouraging someone who is timid.


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Structurally, 怖がりな must connect to a noun, not a verb. 背中を押して, despite being
an idiom, isn't an atomic unit by itself; it consists of a noun 背中 taking the
を-marked place of the verb (in te-form) 押して. Thus, 怖がりな modifies 背中.

If we describe the "back" that is being "pushed" (with the understanding that
this is an idiom that describes encouraging a person) as "cowardly", it stands
to reason that this is really describing (by
[metonymy](https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/metonymy)) the
person who needs encouragement.


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